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brown butter spiced linzer cookies

adapted from bon appetite

Linzer cookies are sneaky. I never actively crave a linzer cookie, but if one shows up in a cookie box, it’s usually my favorite. The tanginess of the fruit preserve combined with a buttery sugar cookie is just so good. I was excited to find a spiced brown butter recipe because I thought the browned butter would add some flavor complexity to an otherwise basic cookie. The one issue I ran into with these cookies is how dry the dough turned out. This caused a lot of cracking to occur when I was rolling out the dough. They still turned out amazing, but to avoid frustration in the future, I would add a bit more water or butter to the recipe. In general though, these cookies are spiced and yummy and tangy and delicious.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ¾ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp ground cardamom
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • ¼ tsp finely ground black pepper
  • 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 2 egg yolks, room temperature
  • powdered sugar for dusting
  • black raspberry preserve (or any fruit preserve you have on hand)

DIRECTIONS

Brown the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has a nutty aroma and the floating specks are brown, transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature. I cool the bowl in the fridge or use an ice bath to speed along the process.

Whisk together the salt, baking powder, cardamom, cloves, pepper, and flour until combined.

Combine the granulated sugar and lemon zest, massaging with fingers to perfume the sugar. Add the sugar mixture and vanilla bean paste to the butter. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and yolks and beat until combined. Add dried ingredients and mix on low until fully combined. Turn the dough onto the counter, divide in half, and form half inch thick disks. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, at least two hours and up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Let one disk of dough sit at room temperature for 15 minutes until slightly softened. Roll on a floured surface until about 1/8” thick. If the dough breaks as you roll, press it back together and allow to thaw for slightly longer. Cut desired shapes and windows from half the cookies. Transfer to a parchment-lined backing sheet. Gather and reroll scraps.

Chill the cookie dough for 15 minutes, then bake, rotating halfway through until golden brown around the edges, 10-12 minutes. Cool the cookies completely.

Dust the cutout cookies with powdered sugar. Spread preserve on the non cutout cookies to the edge and sandwich cookies together. Let the jam sit until set, 15-20 minutes.